Lithuanian companies try to bypass Chinese blockade through Riga, Gdansk and other ports

“Exports from Lithuania to China have stopped,” Vidmants Janulevičs, president of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists (LPK), told BNS.

He said that only a few companies, mainly from the technology sector, are currently able to supply the Chinese market.

The President of LPK acknowledged that the situation had not changed, although formally Lithuania was again included in the Chinese customs systems, from which it was excluded at the beginning of December.

“It is possible to fill in the declarations, but we do not receive confirmation of the completed declarations,” he described Lithuania’s “theoretical return” to China’s customs systems.

Vaidots Šileika, the head of Klaipedos konteiu terminalas and the president of the Lithuanian Stevedoring Association, said that Lithuanian producers and exporters are starting to use the ports of neighboring countries to deliver their products to the Chinese market.

“Most of it is the port of Riga, but there are also Polish ports. There are signs that cargo importers are also trying to find alternative ports,” Šileika said in a conversation with BNS.

He explained that Riga is used as the last port of unloading for imports from China, moreover, the producers and importers in the northern part of Lithuania, who had previously transported part of their cargo through Riga, are now increasing this flow.

Janulevic, president of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, admitted that entrepreneurs are looking for different opportunities, but refused to tell in more detail, because the Chinese side is closely following the information in the Lithuanian media.

The president of LPK had no information whether a Lithuanian exporter supplying products to China would consider relocating his business to another country, but added that entrepreneurs were “looking for different solutions”.

In the autumn, China stopped the flow of freight trains to Lithuania and stopped issuing food export permits to Lithuanian companies, as well as reduced the credit limit and raised prices for Lithuanian companies.

In early December, China removed Lithuania from its customs systems. Over time, the problems seem to have been resolved, but it is still difficult for Lithuanian companies to declare their goods in China.

Beijing has recently put economic and diplomatic pressure on Lithuania in response to Vilnius’ decision to allow Taiwan to establish a representation in Lithuania, using the word “Taiwan” in its name as China tries to prevent any attempt by Taiwan to act as an independent state.

Elsewhere in the world, such representations use the name “Taipei” as Taiwan’s capital, in line with Beijing’s “one China” policy, which does not allow Taiwan to be considered a separate country.

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